England’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals has rated the services provided by Wye Valley NHS Trust as Requires Improvement following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission.
Between 4 June and 11 July 2018, a team of CQC inspectors visited core services at the trust including urgent and emergency care, surgery, outpatients, maternity, medicine and children and young people’s services.
The trust provides community services and hospital care to a population of around 180,000 people in Herefordshire. It also provides urgent and elective care to a population of around 40,000 people in mid-Powys, Wales.
Inspectors rated the care provided to be Good regarding whether services are caring and Requires Improvement regarding whether services are safe, responsive, effective and well-led. The trust’s overall rating is Requires Improvement.
CQC has also published the trust’s Use of Resources report, which is based on an assessment undertaken by NHS Improvement. The trust has been issued a Use of Resources rating of Inadequate.
Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Ted Baker, said:
“On our return to Wye Valley NHS Trust, we found a number of improvements had been made across some areas. However, other services had either not improved or worsened since our last inspection so there remain areas where further work is needed.
“Inspectors were particularly impressed by the improvements made in the services for children and young people which are now rated as Good overall and Outstanding for being caring.
“The service took account of the views of children and young people and had an established young ambassadors group who were involved in improving services. The service also had a progressive and pro-active approach to providing care to children with mental health concerns.
“Inspectors also observed good practice in the outpatients and maternity services. Staff in the maternity unit cared for women and babies with compassion, dignity and respect. Women felt involved in their care and were given informed choice of where to give birth.
“Within outpatients, staff reported that leadership within the department was strong, with visible, supportive and approachable managers. Staff felt there was a positive working culture and in all areas we visited staff felt there was a good sense of teamwork.
“There are, however, areas we remain concerned about which the trust must focus their attention on. For example, surgery services at Hereford Hospital were rated Inadequate for responsiveness. Patients could not access the service when they needed it and there were delays with referral to treatment time.
“Increased numbers of medical and surgical emergency patients impacted on access to elective surgery and resulted in patients not being placed in the wards most suitable for them.
“The trust did not always have the governance systems and structures in place to continually improve the quality of its services. The trust's staff survey engagement score was below average when compared with similar trusts. This outlined that not all leaders were visible throughout the trust or had detailed oversight required for their role.
“We have reported our findings to the trust leadership, which knows what it must do to bring about further improvements and ensure it maintains any already made. We will return to check on the trust’s progress.”
The full inspection report, including a ratings grid, are given in the report published online at: www.cqc.org.uk/provider/RLQ
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